Knicks get a sniper but give up Obi Toppin in proposed trade

The New York Knicks have a few things figured out on their team. They have a fringe All-Star point guard in Jalen Brunson running the show, an All-Star forward in Julius Randle growing his offensive repertoire each season, and a shot-blocking, rim-running center in Mitchell Robinson.

They will need to find another star to push them into contention, but a way to improve in the present is to add shooting to the roster. This team has some good shooters sprinkled into the rotation, but also several players who are below average or non-entities beyond the arc. With a Tom Thibodeau team that will almost always include the center, too.

New York Knicks could use a boost to their shooting at the trade deadline

To their credit, the Knicks get up a lot of three-pointers; their 34.9 attempts per game ranks ninth, and 38.8 percent of their total shots are from distance (12th in the NBA). They just aren’t hitting a ton of them, sitting 23rd in the league at 34.4 percent. Jalen Brunson is hitting 40.4 percent of his three-pointers, and no one else until Obi Toppin at 37.6 percent (on a heavy diet of open corner 3s), and then no one else above 35.6 percent.

Can the Knicks find shooting on the trade market? The answer is probably yes, as a number of movement shooters are currently residing on “sellers” and should be available for trade. One such deal would be with the Utah Jazz; let’s look at how it could play out.